Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
REGINA, Sask. – They won't exactly frame this one and put it on the wall as a masterpiece, but two points in the standings doesn't require a picture.
That's what the MacEwan Griffins men's hockey team accomplished on Saturday, posting a 2-1 triumph over the Regina Cougars to complete a weekend sweep.
"It's always great to get the first one, get our confidence up," said head coach Zack Dailey of their inaugural win of the 2024-25 campaign, beating the Cougars 6-1 on Friday. "I was really proud of the group today. It wasn't pretty, but we found a way. That's what good teams do is they find ways to win."
With the result, the Griffins have drawn back to .500 in the standings at 2-2-0, while Regina falls to 0-4-0.
Goaltender Eric Ward was again exceptional, stopping 26 of 27 shots in the contest, upping his sizzling weekend total to 59 saves on 61 shots – a .967 run.
M��| FINAL@GriffinsMHKY 2@ReginaCougars 1
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) October 13, 2024
Celly from Eric Ward at the end well deserved as the tendy stops 26 of 27 shots tonight, and 59 of 61 in @MacEwanU's weekend sweep!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/bz35dbcXGR
"He was great," said Dailey. "It's a great bounce-back for him. He had a couple rough outings, so it takes a lot of mental toughness to come in and be this good. But it's something that he's capable of.
"He definitely held us in at times and was that steady rock that we needed."
Rookie defenceman Carson Haynes opened the scoring midway through the first period for his first Canada West goal, one-timing a Marc Pasemko pass past Regina goaltender Adam Evanoff.
M��| GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) October 12, 2024
Carson Haynes finished his @TheWHL career with the @WHLPats. Fittingly, he nets his first career @CanadaWest goal in Regina to open the scoring for @GriffinsMHKY.
1-0 Griffins after 20 minutes.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/CZVFY6cSm7
Fittingly, he scored it in Regina where he recently completed his WHL career with the Pats in 2023-24.
After the Cougars tied the game in the second period on Carter Belitski's power-play tally, Pasemko played hero. With the Griffins killing a penalty, Hunter Donohoe forced a turnover in the MacEwan zone, chipped it up the wall to Sam Simard, who found a streaking Pasemko coming out of the zone and he went in on a 2-on-1 but kept it, wiring a blast blocker side.
M��| GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) October 13, 2024
Marc Pasemko has his second of the weekend, wiring home a short-handed beaut to put @GriffinsMHKY up 2-1 on @ReginaCougars midway through the third.#GriffNation @CanadaWest pic.twitter.com/i9CbYYGxJE
"Just his quick release," said Dailey of the play. "This year, we're trying to put a little bit more pressure on teams on the penalty kill. He used his speed and we were able to capitalize on a turnover. He had a great shot there low blocker."
The Griffins head into a bye weekend before hosting the Manitoba Bisons Oct. 25-26.
